Rams thump Dexter in home opener

Staff writer

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The Portales Rams’ first home game couldn’t have gone any better.

link Staff photo: Matthew Asher

Portales junior Tyrese Dawson guards Dexter senior Brandon Silvas during the first half of the Rams’ 55-27 win Tuesday night. The Rams limited the Demons to just one field goal and four points during the first half.

The Class 4A Rams soundly beat Class 3A Dexter 55-27 on Tuesday night at the Ram Athletic Center.

Portales’ first half output would have been enough to win the game as the Rams built an overwhelming 28-4 lead. They took control from the start and never let up, leading 12-0 run with center Jeremie Karngbaye already scoring eight of his game-high 20 points in that initial burst.

“We’re finally getting used to playing together as a team, as we lost a lot of seniors last year,” Karngbaye said. “I’m glad my teammates kept getting me the ball, but we did a good job of sharing it.”

By the time Joseph Cobos scored the Demons’ first points, more than six minutes had passed in the first quarter. Dexter didn’t get another field goal until the third quarter.

The Demons (3-2) didn’t going down without a fight as they started off the third quarter on a 7-0 run over the first 90 seconds. They outscored the Rams 17-15 in the quarter.

“We had a little talk (at) halftime,” Dexter coach Ron Grant said. “It wasn’t the fire-and-brimstone speech, more of a fatherly advice kind of thing. We reminded them to do the basics and not think that everything had to be a home run.”

Grant knew coming in his team would be tested.

“(Portales) was hyped up; we knew that,” Grant said. “They had more talent; we knew that. They had more experience; we knew that.

“Everything was stacked against us. All we were looking for was the execution and the ability to compete.”

The Rams have now experienced a blowout loss at the hands of Roswell, a comeback win against Valencia and a blowout win against Dexter. Portales coach Rickie McBroom is happy to see the progression his team has made in three games.

“We played much harder this time than we did (against Valencia) on Saturday,” he said. “A lot of that has to do with more reps and better conditioning. It was a great team win and all the kids did their job.”

Above all else, McBroom was happy with his defense limiting Dexter starting guard Greg Gabaldon to just five points, which tied him with Jaren Amaro team honors.

“(Gabaldon) is a very good player,” McBroom said. “He’s had 46 points and 39 points in games.

efore this game, he was limited to just 16 and he was below that tonight. I’m proud of our defense because they set the tone and did a great job of doing what we wanted.”

After playing three games in six days, the Rams get an entire week off before hosting Tucumcari next Tuesday in a 7 p.m. start.